Intel's has 32nm plans with Clarkdale and Arrandale for the mainstream value segment, but enthusiasts who are looking for quad core performance at a reasonable price will look at Lynnfield and Clarksfield instead.

Lynnfield is the mainstream 45nm quad core variant of the Core i7, featuring 8MB of L3 cache and an on-die dual-channel DDR3 controller. Based on Nehalem, it is targeted at the mainstream performance segment, and uses a new LGA-1156 socket that is incompatible with the Core i7's LGA-1366 socket.

With new sockets will come new chipsets. Intel will expand their 5 series of chipsets with new models for consumers and businesses. All Nehalem and Westmere based products use DDR3.

The Q57 chipset, codenamed Piketon, is targeted at businesses, while the P55 chipset, codenamed Kings Creek, is targeted at consumers.

Kings Creek will be supplemented in Q1 2010 by the P57. Both will have support for two external 8-lane PCIe graphics. They are supposed to be in the Performance mainstream segment.

Neither USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s, PCIe 3.0, or ECC memory support were on the list of features that DailyTech received, although this may change in the future.

Clarksfield is the mobile version of Lynnfield for laptops. It uses the Capella Platform with a new chipset codenamed Ibex-Peak M. As with the current Centrino 2 platform, wireless internet will be available through an 802.11n Wi-Fi module (Puma Peak) or a WiMAX chipset (Kilmer Peak).

DailyTech has received information that Lynnfield and Clarksfield may be replaced by quad core Westmere variants in the middle of 2010. Intel refuses to comment on unannounced products, although they did state that "additional 32nm products will follow in 2010".

The timing couldn't be better, as Windows 7 is slated to launch at around the same time. It will have many features, including improved usage of multiple cores.

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Perhaps I should clarify: I am the mainstream market, and I don't see any sense in stratifying processor sockets. As a mainstream consumer, technological longevity is equally as important as performance. Telling me that if I want to upgrade from a P45 motherboard I have to choose between socket 1156 and 1366, you're basically asking me to take a crap-shot at what socket has the longer upgrade path.

As of right now, I have to wait 6 months before I find out what kind of performance i5 has, another year before a chipset worth a damn comes out, all while Core i7/X58 matures, solidifies a position in the market, and gradually drops in price.

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